Slovak Republic Action Plan Review 2024-2026

The Slovak Republic’s sixth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... includes promising commitments on media freedom and beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More. The co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... was open but a change in government and political uncertainty limited the engagement of civil society in the process. During implementation, the IRM recommends that the Office of the Plenipotentiary reengage civil society in the multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... and provide frequent implementation updates.

The Slovak Republic’s sixth action plan has seven commitments. Those on participatory policymaking, civic educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ..., beneficial ownership transparency, whistleblower protection, and open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... build on previous OGP cycles. CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 3 on media freedom and protection of journalists addresses a new area for the Slovak Republic.

The action plan generally aligns with the priorities of the previous government (which adopted the action plan) and civil society.[1] Most commitments are ongoing reforms that started before the action plan co-creation process. Several commitments, including Commitment 3, were inspired by the Slovak Republic’s Summit for Democracy commitments.[2] The IRM identified two commitments as promising. Commitment 3 aims to create a national platform to coordinate domestic and international initiatives on supporting media freedom. The platform will also develop an implementation plan for recommendations relating to journalistic safety and on countering the use of strategic lawsuits against public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... (SLAPPs). This platform offers an opportunity to maintain dialogue on this important issue.

Commitment 4 to ensure beneficial ownership data compliance with EU Directive 2015/849 and link beneficial ownership data among different registers is continued for the third consecutive action plan.[3] Applying the same level of scrutiny to companies registered on the beneficial ownership register to other companies would increase financial transparency, strengthen integrity, and help prevent corruption and money laundering. It could also help journalists and civil society organizations (CSOs) to investigate potential abuses of political powers.

A change of government in May 2023 prevented high-level political involvement and reduced civil society’s interest to participate in the co-creation process.[4] As the multi-stakeholder forum (MSF) did not meet regularly because of political turnover, the Office of Plenipotentiary focused on smaller, topical meetings with civil society.[5] Nonetheless, CSOs who participated generally perceived the co-creation process as open.[6] CSOs, academic institutions, and individuals interested in open government could request to participate.

The action plan underwent a standard public consultation in accordance with the Slovak legislative process. On 24 April 2023, the Office of the Plenipotentiary[7] published preliminary information on the development of the action plan on the Slov-Lex portal.[8] The Office of the Plenipotentiary also published the draft action plan on its website for public commenting.[9] The draft was then subjected to an intra-agency commenting period within the Ministry of Interior which manages the Office of the Plenipotentiary, followed by an inter-agency comment procedure.[10] While there were sufficient opportunities to participate, the co-creation process would have benefited from having a more detailed timeline or overview of all upcoming possibilities to participate published ahead of the start of the co-creation process.

After the co-creation process concluded, a new government took office in October 2023. It has adopted several legislative proposals in accelerated proceedings, which are normally reserved for urgent circumstances. Moreover, the amendment to the country’s Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Law proposed by a group of parliament members would, if adopted, require all not-for-profit organizations that have received funding over EUR 5000 from outside the Slovak Republic to label themselves as organizations with foreign support.[11] This could potentially weaken civic space in Slovakia. The Council of the Government for Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organizations has recommended to the government to disagree with the proposed amendment.[12] The appointment of the new government also led to changes in the leadership of the Office of the Plenipotentiary. While the plenipotentiary position has always been seen as a political nomination, the new plenipotentiary does not have a track record of working with the civil society sector and CSOs have expressed dissatisfaction with measures taken by the new plenipotentiary.[13] During implementation, the IRM recommends that the Office of the Plenipotentiary reengage civil society in the multi-stakeholder forum and provide frequent implementation updates to maintain its good standing in OGP.

Promising Commitments

The following review looks at the two commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] Pavol Szalai (Head of the EU-Balkans Desk at Reporters Without Borders), interview by IRM researcher, 25 June 2024; Jana Feherpataky Kuzmová (Institute for Active Citizenship) interview by IRM researcher, 13 June 2024.
[2] “OGP Summit For Democracy Resources,” Open Government Partnership, 20 August 2024, https://docs.google.com/ spreadsheets/d/1KN_HWVdQCZrVqQDILerLVGfXPvK-kwwtMYBTCypRF6Y/edit?gid=1983962610 – gid=1983962610.
[3] “Open Government Partnership National Action Plan of the Slovak Republic 2020–2021,” Office of the Plenipotentiary, 13 November 2019, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Slovakia_Action-Plan_2019-2021_EN.pdf.
[4] Lucia Lacika (Office of the Plenipotentiary), interviews by and correspondence with IRM researcher, 20 November 2023, 10 January 2024, and 3 May 2024.
[5] Lacika, interviews and correspondence.
[6] Xénia Makarová (Stop Corruption Foundation), interview by IRM researcher, 4 June 2024.
[7] “Predbežná informácia k tvorbe nového Akčného plánu Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2024–2026 bola zverejnená na portáli Slov-Lex,” [Preliminary information on the development of the new Open Government Initiative Action Plan for 2024–2026 has been published on the Slov-Lex portal], Office of the Plenipotentiary, 24 April 2023, https://www.minv.sk/?ros_vsetky-spravy&sprava=predbezna-informacia-k-tvorbe-noveho-akcneho-planu-iniciativy-pre-otvorene-vladnutie-na-roky-2024-2026-bola-zverejnena-na-portali-slov-lex.
[8] “PI/2023/130 Návrh Akčného plánu Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2024–2026,” [Draft Open Government Partnership Action Plan 2024–2026], Slov-Lex, 13 May 2023, https://www.slov-lex.sk/legislativne-procesy/SK/PI/2023/130.
[9] “Vítame pripomienky k nultému návrhu Akčného plánu Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2024–2026,” [We welcome comments on the Open Government Partnership’s Zero Draft Action Plan 2024–2026], Office of the Plenipotentiary, https://www.minv.sk/?ros_vsetky-spravy&sprava=vitame-pripomienky-k-nultemu-navrhu-akcneho-planu-iniciativy-pre-otvorene-vladnutie-na-roky-2024-2026
[10] “LP/2023/492 Návrh Akčného plánu Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2024–2026,” [LP/2023/492 Draft Open Government Partnership Action Plan 2024–2026], Office of the Plenipotentiary, 14 August 2023, https://www.slov-lex.sk/legislativne-procesy/SK/LP/2023/492.
[11] “Návrh poslancov Národnej rady Slovenskej republiky Rudolfa Huliaka, Dagmar Kramplovej, Milana Garaja a Adama Lučanského na vydanie zákona, ktorým sa mení a dopĺňa zákon č. 213/1997 Z. z. o neziskových organizáciách poskytujúcich všeobecne prospešné služby v znení neskorších predpisov a ktorým sa menia a dopĺňajú niektoré zákony,” [Proposal of the Members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Rudolf Huliak, Dagmar Kramplová, Milan Garaj and Adam Lučanský to issue an Act amending Act No. 213/1997 Coll. on non-profit organisations providing generally beneficial services, as amended and supplementing certain acts], National Council of the Slovak Republic, 27 March 2024, https://www.nrsr.sk/web/Default.aspx?sid=zakony/zakon&MasterID=9699.
[12] K návrhu poslancov Národnej rady Slovenskej republiky Rudolfa HULIAKA, Dagmar KRAMPLOVEJ, Milana GARAJA a Adama LUČANSKÉHO na vydanie zákona, ktorým sa mení a dopĺňa zákon č. 213/1997 Z. z. o neziskových organizáciách poskytujúcich všeobecne prospešné služby v znení neskorších predpisov a ktorým sa menia a dopĺňajú niektoré zákony (parlamentná tlač 245) [On the proposal of the Members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Rudolf HULIAK, Dagmar KRAMPLOVA, Milan GARAJ and Adam LUČANSKÝ to issue a law amending Act No 213/1997 Coll. on non-profit organisations providing general beneficial services, as amended, and amending and supplementing certain acts (Parliamentary Print 245)], Government Council of the Slovak Republic for Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organizations, 23 April 2024, https://www.minv.sk/swift_data/source/rozvoj_obcianskej_spolocnosti/rada_vlady_pre_mno/rokovania/2024/37_zasadnutie/uznesenie%20c.%204_Navrh%20skupiny%20poslancov.pdf.
[13] Makarová, interview; “Mimovládky pobúrene reagujú na slová splnomocnenkyne vlády pre rozvoj občianskej spoločnosti,” [Non-government women react indignantly to the words of the government’s plenipotentiary for the development of civil society], Dennik Sme, 11 July 2024, https://domov.sme.sk/c/23355947/mimovladky-poburene-reaguju-na-slova-splnomocnenkyne-vlady-pre-rozvoj-obcianskej-spolocnosti.html; Juraj Rizman, “#MySmeObčianskaSpoločnosť?” [#WeAreCivicSociety?] Týždeň, 17 July 2024, https://www.tyzden.sk/komentare/112030/mysmeobcianskaspolocnost/?ref=kat.